


Marshmallows

by Gemion



Series: Warm Drinks and All That [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Modern Era, PURE BOIS, this is so overdue i was supposed to finish this in like september but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemion/pseuds/Gemion
Summary: A series? of little works in a TDP Modern AU. Hopefully this will become something more than a single chapterrrrr
Relationships: Amaya & Gren (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Warm Drinks and All That [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582948
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	Marshmallows

  
  
  


# 1: Mallow Mush

“Man, it’s cold outside!” Callum said, shivering beneath his thick blue jacket as he and Rayla walked down the street. Beneath their feet, dry leaves crackled, and a pleasant smell drifted through the cold air. Rayla scoffed a little. “This is nothin’,” she grinned. “Back where I’m from, the weather would be freezing at this time o’ year,” she boasted. The elf was wearing a slightly warmer jacket than her usual teal one, though still the same color. Her hood, cut with two holes to fit her horns in, was pulled over her head. 

As the two high-schoolers rounded the corner, Callum’s eye was caught by a particular cafe. “ _The Banther Lodge Cafe,_ ” he read the sign on the front, smiling at the cute drawing of a banther holding a warm cup of coffee beneath the text. “I think its new,” he commented, still looking up. The boy looked over to Rayla. “Wanna go in?” he asked. The elf shrugged. “Whatever it takes t’ warm ye up, _Chillum_ ,” she joked. Callum chuckled. He pushed open the door, and the two stepped in.

  
  


Inside, to Callum’s delight, it was comfortably warm. Rayla took a few seconds to remove her hood, with some effort considering her horns and all. The elf and human sat down at the cafe’s bar table and waited for the barista. There was a small, awkward silence between them.

Rayla broke the ice. “So, you done with the Language Arts paper? Y’kno, the one on the play?”

“Oh, _Love Amongst the Dragons_? Well, halfway. Still have to do the rest of my character analysis. I did Kito.”

Rayla groaned. “Kito? Ugh, I hate that guy. Like, if it weern’t fer him Noren and Kiana would’ve bin off havin’ a nice happy time under the moonlit skies but NO! Country Boy jes coulnt handle seein’ past his own arse!” the elf ranted. “I jus’ can’t even compre- why?! Why would he do that? Kito’s a useless, stupid meddler and becoos of hiem Kiana got dragged awein chains and almost **killed** , and cossa what? Hes fook’n pride, thats what!” 

The human looked at her with quite open eyes. Rayla looked up at him. “What?” she said.

“Oh, nothing, just… your accent gets stronger when you’re mad.” The elf’s cheeks colored slightly, and she pulled the edges of her hood up a little to hide it. “I don’t- I don’t mean it in a mean way, I think it’s cu-” Callum suddenly cut himself off.

The elf raised an eyebrow. “You think it’s what?”

Before the boy could answer, the barista arrived.“Hey, what can I get for you?” he asked with that friendly customer service voice, leaning over the table slightly. Callum gestured for Rayla to go first. The elf contemplated her order.

“I’ll, have a black coffee. Small,” she finally said, thinking of how she usually saw Runaan sipping a cup of the dark drink every morning. The man nodded, writing down the order on a small notepad.

“And you?” the barista pointed the pen at Callum. The boy started panicking internally, having been too busy talking to Rayla to have thought of what to order beforehand.

“Um.. well… I’ll have…” desperately, he looked up at the drinks menu, eyes searching through the signs until- “I’ll… I’ll have the large hot cocoa.” The barista nodded.

“With marshmallows?” Callum nodded briskly. “Oookay! I’ll be back in a few with your orders.” And with that, the friendly barista left to prepare their beverages. 

Rayla turned back to him. “Now, you think my accent was, … what now?” she said in a sly tone. Callum’s brain went into a literal record-scratch.

“Uhh, did I say it was what? I-I… um...” he babbled.

The elf smirked. Leaning over, she tilted her head down a little to headbutt the human with her horns. “Ow!” he said “‘It’s pretty ‘cute’, huh?” she smiled cheekily. The boy found himself blushing slightly. He put his head down on the table. Rayla nudged him. “Cmon, get up.” Callum was still quite too flustered and his head remained down. 

“Well…. Uh.. if it’s any consolation, I think that yer ears are pretty cute too,” Rayla put in awkwardly.

The human looked up. “...what?” Rayla immediately flushed with embarrassment.

“I mean.. They’re so fooken _round._ ” She reached over and lightly held his ears between her thumb and fingers. Her hands were just a bit cold to the touch. “Oh.. heh. I guess they are compared to yours.” he said. After a few seconds Rayla let go. 

The barista returned. “One small black coffee,” he slid the small cup to Rayla, “and large hot cocoa with marshmallows.” the barista set the cup down “Enjoy!” 

“Thanks, uh….” Callum read the name tag on the barista’s shirt pocket. “...Ren.”

The barista smiled. “You’re welcome!” he said again, in the same customer service tone. Ren then left to take the order of another customer.

Rayla picked up the cup. It was fairly hot. She hesitantly took a sip. Two seconds later she gagged and spit it out. “Gah! This is disgostang!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, black coffee is pretty bitter,” Callum commented, taking a little sip from his own drink. She set it aside, sputtering and trying to get the taste off her tongue. “How does Runaan stand drinking this _every day?_ ” 

Callum briefly recalled meeting Runaan a few times before. The well-built elf was always staring Callum down when the boy was walking with Rayla on the way to the pick-up area after school. Though he didn’t know a lot about Rayla’s guardian, he felt like Runaan would certainly include black coffee in his morning routine. “You can have some of my cocoa,” he offered. Rayla looked over, a bit of both curiosity and gratitude in her eyes. Callum took a pair of straws from the cup of straws on the table. Handing one to Rayla, he put his cocoa in between them.

Rayla put her straw in and took a tentative sip. The drink was still hot, but not the tongue-boiling hotness that the coffee was at. And sweet, too! She took a deeper sip. The elf had hardly been aware of how much she’d been drinking until Callm had teasingly said: “Hey, leave a little for me!”  
  
“Oh. Uh. Sorry,” she breathed the last word awkwardly.

“No no, it’s fine!” Callum said. “But if you’re gonna have so much at least have a few marshmallows. Y’know, to balance it out.”

Rayla looked down into the cup. There were a few little white shapes floating in the drink. “... What’re these?” Rayla asks, eyes narrowed inquisitively.

“You’ve…. Never had a marshmallow before?” Callum asked.

"No, we don’t have them where I’m from.” she lifted one out of the cocoa with her straw. Hesitantly she tried the mushy confection.

_Chewy._ That was her first observation. _Chewy, fluffy.. Sweet, of course._ “So, do you like it?” Callum asked her.

“Yeah. It’s squishy. Like you.” she quipped.

Callum chuckled, the hint of a blush coming onto his face. “I’m not squishy!” he said. 

“I’ll prove _exactly_ how squishy y are. Come here.” she gestured for him to get closer. He leaned in. Rayla immediately put her hands on both sides of his face and gently pressed them together. “See? Squishy human.” Callum couldn’t help but blush at the touch. Her hands were still cold, but gentle. A few more seconds, until they became a whole minute, passed between them, with Rayla holding Callum’s face in her hands. The human unconsciously leaned in. Rayla not quite noticing the movement, more distracted staring into his eyes. They had hardly noticed how close they were getting until one of them breathed and they both felt it and realized.

“ _Hey,”_ Callum said quietly.

“ _Hm_?” was her response.

Callum couldn’t really form the words, so instead he just leaned further forwards so that their faces touched, and then pressed his lips to hers. Rayla’s eyes widened a bit, but she soon kissed back. They stayed that way until finally parting. There were no words between them, but the look in their eyes spoke volumes. A little smile appeared on Rayla’s face. “... that was nice,” she said simply.

After a pause, Callum replied: “Yeah. It was.” 

He looked at the cocoa. Putting his own straw into the drink, as Rayla took her straw out, he had some too. It was delightfully sweet, much like the cocoa that he and his family often enjoyed during the holidays. The boy closed his eyes and savored the taste deeply.

Rayla was looking at him, but also at the surroundings. And specifically at a new car that had pulled in, easy to see from the window, she was looking at. The door opened, and out stepped a tall Asian woman in a military uniform. She seemed a bit tired. The woman made her way towards the door as Rayla followed her with her eyes. When the woman entered she looked up and saw Callum. Her eyes widened. Rayla tapped Callum’s shoulder. “Uh… Callum?”   
  


“Hm?”

“D’you happen t’e know _her?”_

Now it was Callum’s turn to widen his eyes as he turned around and saw the woman. “AMAYA!!” Callum nearly screamed, setting the cocoa down quickly and practically running into the woman’s arms. Amaya grinned and lifted him up almost to her height and wrapped him in a tight bear hug. Callum had to tap her shoulder furiously to get her to release. She did, and he inhaled sharply. Thankfully his lungs weren’t crushed by Amaya’s strong arms. “I’m so happy to see you again,” he signed and spoke at the same time.

Amaya smiled, signing back: “I was let off duty just in time for the holidays.” she glanced over at the elf. “Who’s this?” she ended the sentence pointing at Rayla.

“Oh… this is my.. Um… this is Rayla.” he blushed as he introduced Amaya to Rayla. The woman took a few moments to figure out what he meant, but once she did…

An amused smile came across her face. “Look at my nephew, all grown up and falling in love,” she signed teasingly. Callum blushed harder.

“It’s- I mean… maybe?” he said sheepishly.

Rayla couldn’t quite follow the conversation, not knowing sign language and all. “So… who’s this?” she asked. 

“This is my Aunt Amaya. _General_ Amaya, in fact.” he gestured to his aunt. “Oh, and where’s Gren?” he asked. He had only just noticed the absence of her interpreter and friend.   
  


“He’s taking a rest in my car. He’s been driving the two of us since we arrived at the airport.” she responded. Callum spoke her words out loud for Rayla. Amaya pulled her nephew back into a hug, a little less tight this time. She looked over to Rayla. “You come in too.”

“Me?” 

“Yes. You’re part of the family too now.” Rayla’s cheeks seemed to warm at that. She joined the hug as well.

Amaya soon released them from the hug. “Ok, now hop in my car. Let’s go see Ezran.”

Callum smiled. “He’ll be really glad to see you, Aunt Amaya.” 

“I know.” she smiled. She started to walk out the door. Callum turned back and picked up the cup, sipping the remaining cocoa. The marshmallows had become mush by now. He was fine with that. It only served to make the cocoa even sweeter. The two teens boarded the car quietly as not to wake the sleeping Gren in the passenger seat. Callum leaned to rest on Rayla’s shoulder. She put her head on top of his. The boy sipped his cocoa and smiled.

With Amaya at the wheel, they started driving towards Callum’s house.


End file.
